Wastewater plant no longer pumping raw sewage into water

Exact cause of sudden surge of water unknown

The town’s wastewater treatment plant stopped discharging millions of gallons of untreated sewage into the ocean late Saturday night, and the plant is operating again, the Patriot Ledger reported.

But neither town leaders nor plant operators know the exact cause of the sudden surge of water that disabled the plant Thursday morning.

Local environmentalists are concerned about the impact and are questioning whether Hull’s sewage treatment is really prepared for a storm and flooding.

“We’re still investigating the cause,” John Struzziery, chairman of Hull’s permanent sewer commission, said Sunday. “The treatment plant had extremely high flow over the past week. There’s been snow melt, rainfall and high groundwater, but we’ve handled this type of water in the past.”

On Friday in an effort to keep wastewater from backing up into homes, crews began pumping sewage over the boulders and into the sea just across from the treatment plant at the far end of Nantasket Avenue near Spring Street.

More than 2 million gallons of untreated water gushed into the ocean per day, said Edmund Coletta, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.

The sewage coming out of the pipe was diluted by the surge of water coming into the system, but it still contained sewer waste, Coletta said.

“It’s definitely sewage,” he said. “It’s solids. It’s things that get flushed down the toilet.”

Philip Lemnios, Hull’s town manager, said town officials and workers from United Water, a private company that runs the plant, will assess equipment damage this week.

Lemnios downplayed any environmental concerns, saying the amount of sewage discharged is small compared to the body of water, Massachusetts Bay. He also said the discharge was miles from the town’s popular swimming beaches.

But Anamarija Frankic, a professor of coastal ecosystem management at UMass-Boston and a resident of Squantum, said the plant failure and sewage discharge possibly signals deeper problems.

“Two days of rain and we are dumping our sewage outside? People should be aware that our systems and technology are not ready for big storms,” she said Sunday.

Frankic said sea-level rise and the effect of climate change make these problems even more urgent.

Sewer commission member Struzziery said: “We know we’re susceptible to storms, and we have frequent discussion about precautions.”

Angela Sanfilippo, executive director of the Massachusetts Fishermen’s Partnership, said Friday: “My whole feeling is this is not good for the ocean, bottom line.”

On Sunday afternoon, a little sunshine beckoned walkers along the Hull sea wall. Many of them were worried that their favorite coastline had just been the site of sewage discharge.